


Sing A Lunar Song

by Eyanril



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Werecreatures, Character Death, F/M, Harm to Animals, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mention of children, Mentions of Cancer, Mildly Dubious Consent, Multi, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Sex, Praise Kink, Werewolf Biology, Werewolf Culture, Werewolf Mates, Werewolves in Heat, Wolf Instincts, Wolf Pack, Wolfed Out Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:08:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26807896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eyanril/pseuds/Eyanril
Summary: The werewolves of the Resistance Pack run the town of Alderaan by day and run wild at night.Rey, once a stray, finally has a family for the first time...she doesn't need more, right?  Rose, having grown up surrounded by pack, is content with her lot in life...isn't she?Then two males - one a prince, returned to claim his birthright; the other an outsider, along for the ride - arrive and shake up their world.What's a bitch to do?
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Rose Tico, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 16
Kudos: 84





	1. Rey - Part I

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to another of my WIPs!
> 
> What this fic is: A werewolf fic where I cherry pick bits and pieces of werewolf lore from various media I like and smash it all together with some real-life wolf behavior & Star Wars stuff to get the formula I want. My primary inspiration is Blood & Chocolate (the book, not the horrid movie), and it's the source of the title. If you haven’t ever read it, do it! It’s so beautifully written. It was my Twilight way before Twilight was a thing, ha. 
> 
> What this fic is not: an A/B/O fic. It’s just not my bag, baby. I’ve gone out of my way, in fact, to avoid using those particular terms, except for one instance of “alpha” I can think of. However, considering some werewolf lore and A/B/O lore are both derived from real-life wolf behavior, obviously there is going to be quite a bit of overlap in certain areas. I just want it to be clear so that anyone who clicks on this looking for blatant A/B/O isn’t disappointed. 
> 
> This is planned to be a little bit lighter in tone than It All Starts With Wanting - emphasis on "a little bit" - so mind the tags; there won’t be quite as many to watch out for. 
> 
> And just like IASWW, this will follow an alternating POV chapter style, featuring our four main characters. 
> 
> We’re starting this one off with Rey!

On the evening of the super pink moon, the werewolves of the Resistance Pack descended on the state park en masse, ready for a night of revelry after a long winter. 

Rey was a bundle of nervous energy, standing in a half-ring of packmates, one among many. On her left, Rose’s eyes were already moonglow yellow, reflecting the light with which their mother, their maker, blessed them.

An older woman stepped forward and took her place at the center of the semicircle. In spite of her small stature, she commanded the attention of the entire pack with a mere lifting of her hands. The wolves stilled and the volume of their vocalizations sank to a soft murmur. 

“We haven’t had the opportunity to do one of these in awhile,” she proclaimed, her voice carrying without effort across the clearing in which they stood, “But I thought the first full moon of spring would be an appropriate time to dust off the cobwebs...” Raucous hooting and hollering erupted from all around. “...so to speak. We do have a few rules, though.” Her voice was clear and brooked no argument. “No means no, no matter what form you’re in. And remember, things may look different in the light of the morning, so don’t get too caught up in the celebration that you forget yourselves.” She cracked a smile. “But have some fun for me, ‘cause god knows I did, in my day.”

“Run with us, Leia!” a male shouted from the back of the pack, eliciting a chorus of howling from some of the men in the group.

“I don’t think Karé would appreciate that too much, Snap,” Leia grinned, winking, as laughter swept through those assembled. “I’d wear you out.” Wexley pretended to faint at the thought, earning a playful slap from his wife.

“And one more thing,” Leia said, before the crowd got out of control. “We have some newcomers who have joined the pack since last fall, and although a lot of you have probably met them by now, I want to give them a proper welcome.” She motioned to Rey.

“Go on,” Rose said, when Rey gulped, attempting to push back into the crowd. Rose gave her a shove, and she stumbled forward into the center of the semi-circle. 

“Come here, dear,” Leia laughed, and threw an arm around her. “Now Rey has been with us for a little more than three months. She came to us without a family, and I can gladly say that all of you embraced her with open arms and made her feel at home in our little pack. She’s a damn fine mechanic and a sweet girl,” Leia added, “And boys, she’s still single!” More howling from all directions, and Rey smiled lopsidedly and prayed that this would be over soon. But Leia didn’t release her: instead she opened her other arm and tipped her head, beckoning someone else over. 

Emerging from the back of the crowd, two men and a woman made their way forward. Quiet descended on the clearing.

The female was one of the tallest Rey had ever seen — taller than both her male companions — with a short coif so blindingly blond it was almost white. She looked magnificent now, with her pretty face and statuesque figure, and she would look magnificent in wolf form, Rey thought, with her long legs and platinum fur. The slimmer male was pale with ginger hair and a serious expression. He’d be an odd color as a wolf: there weren’t any other redheads in their ranks, so Rey was curious to see him transform. 

It was the other male, though, who ducked his head, kissing Leia on the cheek and standing sentinel at her other side, and who Rey’s eyes snapped to and remained with. She couldn’t help but stare over the diminutive older woman’s head. The stranger possessed an unkempt mane of jet black hair, golden-brown eyes, and a massive body that was built for breaking things, all sinew and muscle. She found herself wondering what he would look like in his other form — pale as moonlight, or black as the night sky?

As if he could feel her curious gaze, the stranger gave her a sidelong glance, the corner of his mouth twitching in amusement.

“As some of you know, three weeks ago my son Ben returned from his...sojourn…” Here Leia’s voice broke a little, but she regained her composure quickly. “...with another pack out West. He brought a few acquaintances, as you can see: Hux and Phasma.” A curt nod from the redhead, and a smug smile from the blond. “All three are still getting settled, but they’ll find their places in our pack soon enough. I want you to embrace them just as you’ve embraced all the others before them: Finn.” A cheer from Poe went up from the left, where he stood with his boyfriend. “Jannah, and the whole former Trooper pack.” A whoop from the right, where Jannah was being clapped on the back by the rest of her decimated pack. “Rey.” Rose whistled, and Rey blushed even deeper. Leia squeezed her arm, and she could feel Ben’s eyes on her. “Now, let’s get this party going!”

Before Leia could stop her, Rey slipped out of the older woman’s hold and back to Rose, who was already in the process of undressing. Her moon-changed eyes were locked on the newcomers.

“Where do you think they came from?” Rose wondered. “I mean, I heard rumors that Ben had returned, but the others? Were they part of his pack? Strays?”

“I don’t know. Do, umm, did you know Ben? From before?” Rey asked.

“Only in the vaguest sense of the word. He left shortly after my family joined. Supposedly to undergo some sort of intense training. With Luke. But then Luke came back...and he didn’t.” Rose stepped out of her jeans and underwear, paused to help Rey with the zipper on her dress. “He’s five...no, six years older than me, so it’s not like I interacted with him much in that brief amount of time. I think Paige liked him well enough, though.”

In the middle of removing her bra, Rey let her eyes steal back to Ben, and found he was already looking at her.  _ Shit _ , she thought, _ I hope he doesn’t get any ideas after what Leia said _ . She realized with a jolt of anxiety that his eyes weren’t the only male’s on her. She wasn’t looking for any sort of entanglement. She just wanted to run through the trees, the bright moon guiding her. Play with Rose and the others. Maybe participate in a hunt. 

The first groans and gasps of the change rippled through the pack. Rose mock-howled in appreciation at Hux, who was now completely nude, earning a scowl from the male before his expression snapped back to stone.

“Rose!” Rey chastened, and the other woman laughed.

“What? He’s pretty cute! And nicely endowed.” She licked her lips, earning another scowl from the object of her affection. “Grumpy bastard. We’ll see if I can loosen him up at all.” She flashed Rey another grin before buckling over, the change upon her. Within moments Rose was in her grey-and-black form, her white mask giving her a friendly, inquisitive appearance. Rose, along with petite Kaydel and Leia herself, was on the smaller side for a female, but still capable of packing a punch when she wanted. She howled happily, circling Rey and nipping at her elbows.

“I’m getting there,” Rey laughed, finally slipping her panties down around her ankles. When she straightened back up, the first pains of the change shooting up her spine, she could see Ben in the midst of his own transformation — bones snapping, realigning; fur springing from his skin, black like ink. 

An excruciating spasm crumpled her to the ground. She came back up on all fours, panting, shaking her fur out. She knew she was reddish brown, with a reddish mask and grey guard hairs running throughout her coat, but she wasn’t sure if she was considered “pretty” by wolf standards. Rose bumped into her again, and then Finn — mottled brown and black — and Poe — black-tipped silver— appeared, and they were circling and snapping playfully around each other.

Leia had changed, too, and now she crested the ridge, standing above them all. Her fur was still mostly black, like her son’s, but heavily peppered with grey. An all-grey wolf joined her — Luke, Rey realized — and together they tipped their heads back and howled. 

The entire pack followed suit, singing their joy into the night, and then the clearing descended into the chaos of celebration.

Rey looped and wove through the other wolves, yipping and mouthing, Rose on her heels, until she found herself spat out from the writhing mass again, panting happily. Everyone was beginning to break off into groups. She watched Rose sidle up to Hux, whose red-blond fur stood out from the rest, where he still hung on the fringe, seeming unwilling to jump into the sea of fur. The male seemed affronted by Rose’s forwardness, lip lifted in a sneer when the small female licked his muzzle, looking down his long nose at her when she play-bowed. To Rey’s amusement, Rose didn’t seem deterred, yodeling in his face and refusing to let him alone, even as he moved away from the crowd into the woods, clearly intent on experiencing the night in solitude. 

_ Silly boy,  _ Rey thought, as she watched Rose trot after him. The other female was one of the most stubborn people she had ever met, and Rey knew once Rose got an idea in her head, there was little chance she’d let it go without a fight.

Rey turned back to the disorder in the center of the clearing, and found herself face to face with Ben, who skidded to a stop a few feet from her, snapping back at Finn and Poe. The other males attacked him simultaneously, but their postures were all playful, their growls light. Phasma took his side and joined the fray, darting in and out and knocking Finn flat. Rey rushed to his aid, whirling when Phasma growled a challenge at her. But before they could collide, Ben slipped in between them and took most of the hit from the big blonde wolf. Without warning, the mood turned serious. Ben’s lip curled into a snarl, and he licked his teeth, growling deep. Finn and Poe seemed confused, but Phasma was nonplussed: she stalked off to join in another tussle.

Ben nudged Rey’s shoulder as if in apology, so Rey jostled back, and then the four of them were playing again. Up close Ben towered over her — much larger than Finn or Poe — and at one point, when pinned beneath him, all she could see was an expanse of black fur. Squirming, she broke free from him and from the group, streaking into the trees, inciting a pack-wide chase. She may not have been particularly big, or strong, but she knew she was damn fast. 

_ Eat my dust _ , she thought, as the others nipped at her tail. Before long, wolves began to drop out of the race in pairs, intent on more private games, but Rey kept running. She hadn’t felt this good in months, coursing across the forest in the moonlight, the pack running at her back. She was a part of something, and that meant more to her than anyone knew. 

When she finally slowed, panting heavily, she realized only Ben had kept pace with her. Even Finn and Poe, who normally were the first to follow, had disappeared.

_ So it’s you and me _ , she thought as Ben drew near. He was just as beautiful as a wolf as he was as a man. And he was obviously interested in her.

_ I would have prefered our first interaction to be in person, so we could talk, but I can work with this. _

He let her make the first move, standing stiff legged so she could inspect him, tail wagging the whole time. Then she did the same, letting the male circle and sniff at her. She let out a soft growl when he stuck his nose a little too enthusiastically between her back legs, but he retreated at the warning. 

_ No means no, no matter what form you’re in.  _ Leia’s newly returned son wasn’t about to test that rule, it seemed. 

Until Leia’s declaration, Rey suspected half the males in the pack hadn’t even known who she was beyond polite hellos and nods of the head.  _ Well that dam’s broken wide open now,  _ she thought wryly. She felt grateful that she hadn’t gone into heat yet this year. Rose had warned her that not only was it inconvenient on pack outings like this, but it could lead to trouble. Some males were a little too old-fashioned, expecting a bitch in heat to just stand there and be receptive, whether she wanted it or not, whether either party had any romantic ties to others or not. 

“It’s why we usually abstain from attending gatherings during that period,” Rose had explained. “It sucks being left out, but it’s safer for everyone.” Away from Leia’s eyes, both females knew that the pack rules about consent, simple enough, weren’t always followed when their blood ran hot. 

But Ben had shaken off her rejection with nonchalance and moved ahead, turning to look at her with his molten gold eyes. Waiting for her to follow. Within moments they had picked up a trail — the tracks of a deer moving through the underbrush, its distinct musk on the breeze. She had hoped to surprise a rabbit, but this would be even better. Their gallop into the copse had probably startled it; pursuing the deer would mean another chase, but Rey was game. 

She let him take the lead, a head in front of her. It was clear he remembered his way around these woods, unafraid to strike out without the worry of getting lost. His long stride ate up the ground — unlike her, he was made for stamina, not speed. After a half hour loping along, stopping only briefly to sniff the wind and to lap at a trickle of a stream, Rey was more tired than she thought she would be, falling further and further behind him. So when he finally came to a halt, she sank onto her haunches, prepared to give up the pursuit. 

The black wolf swiveled his ears around and lifted his nose in the air, scenting. Suddenly his ears pricked forward, and Rey got back to her feet, padding to his side on silent paws. She could hear it too, now, and wondered how she had missed the sounds — a long body brushing against low hanging branches, its step barely audible on the sodden leaves of the forest floor. 

Rey watched Ben for her cue, figured he would take the lead again, but he only looked at her, then back towards the direction of their prey. 

**_It’s getting away, little wolf._ **

The thought came unbidden in her head, buzzing like radio interference. She twitched her ears, and the buzzing stopped.

_ Weird,  _ she thought. She waited. He didn’t budge. 

_ Want me to prove something, do you _ ? She had been on her own a long time — she had hunted solo more times than she could count. But could she take point on a team hunt and score? 

She started forward, and he fell in behind her. Rey paced slowly, knowing the first burst of speed would be critical — something that would be difficult in this thick brush. She cast around for a familiar landmark, and saw a fallen tree, its entire root system ripped from the ground, to her right in the distance. If that was there, then…

She caught Ben’s attention with a flick of her tail, jerked her head to the left. He didn’t hesitate to follow her direction and peeled off, dark form fading into the shadows of the trees. 

_ Here we go.  _ Summoning her last reserves of strength, Rey charged.

The deer’s tail was the first thing she saw, the white flag raised as it bounded away, but not in surrender. Galloping at full speed, she soon drew nose to flank with it, losing momentum as they leapt one after another over a log. As soon as she landed she extended her stride, regaining the ground she had lost. 

The trees thinned around them as they coursed, mother moon singing in her blood. She could feel Ben’s presence on her left, matching their speed. The deer, a large doe, could probably smell him, but Rey’s jaws, snapping at its heels, were the more pressing concern.

Only seconds had passed, but Rey had the cunning of a human mind coupled with the instinct of her wolf form, and she could predict her opening coming as clear as a clairvoyant. She drew alongside the deer, saw the liquid fear in its eye. Three more strides and she was a head in front of it.

She cut left, digging her back heels into the ground hard. The doe, desperate to avoid her snapping jaws, kicked, shied in the same direction.

Straight into Ben Solo’s path.

He had slowed enough to drop into a crouch, and now he exploded up from the ground, pure power, closing his teeth around the doe’s throat. Dragged it down, its neck twisting at an impossible angle with an audible crack. 

Rey darted in, mindful of the twitching hooves, and bit into the tender underbelly. Blood gushed from the wound she ravaged, sweet on her tongue. She tore at the viscera in a frenzy, the memory of days spent lonely, on the brink of starvation, spurring her on.

**_Yes, little wolf. Eat your fill. You’ll never go hungry again._ **

She paused, slavering, the buzzing once again filling her ears. Shook her head.  _ What the fuck? _

Ben stood staring at her, muzzle bloodied.

**_Clever little wolf, don’t stop now. Gorge yourself._ **

Rey backed away from their kill. Sunk to the ground. Pawed at her head.  _ Am I going fucking crazy? _

**_You can hear me, can’t you, pretty thing? Curious._ **

She realized the sound was not in her head.

It was  _ his _ voice. Speaking to her through that strange mental connection some of them had, of which she had heard tales but had never experienced.

Ben was beside her suddenly, licking at her right ear. She pulled away with a yip.

_ Can you hear me?  _ She tried to direct the thought towards him, but received no response.

He took her place at the deer’s belly, shredding the flesh, gulping down mouthfuls. 

_ You bloody nutcase. You imagined the whole thing.  _ There were no voices, his or otherwise, rattling around her head.  _ Right? _

Crawling on her belly next to the black wolf, she expected a rebuke, a snap of his teeth in her face. He merely shuffled to the side, making room between bites.

Rey, doubt driven away by the smell of the feast before her, fed.


	2. Rose - Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well since I messed up last night and incorrectly posted this fic as complete, I figured I'd post the next chapter as well. 
> 
> Enjoy!

If, earlier that day, someone had asked Rose how she expected the night of the pack gathering to proceed, she would have responded along the same train of thought as Rey:  _ run, play, hunt. Nap.  _ Probably in that order.

Chasing a reluctant rust-colored male through the woods would definitely  _ not _ have been on her list of possible scenarios. And yet, once the opportunity had presented itself, in the form of this slim, good-looking newcomer, she hadn’t been able to resist.

Besides, she had seen the way Rey was eyeing up Ben Solo, and Rose wasn’t about to get in the way of whatever sexually charged storm was brewing there. She could play wingwoman some other night. For now, she was content to lope along after Hux, curious to see where exactly he was headed.

She had been part of this pack for almost two decades; she knew these woods like the back of her paw, and as a new arrival he was likely to get lost. So, despite his initial rejection of her advances, she had followed him into the trees. 

A few hundred yards away from the fray, the sounds of over-exuberant play receding into the background, he wheeled on her, teeth bared in a grotesque snarl that distorted his pretty lupine face. His hackles high, his tail stuck out stiff behind him, Rose would have thought he was about to fight for his life.

_ Melodramatic much? _ She wagged her tail, whined low in her throat, hoping it would put him at ease. With her small stature, she was decidedly at a disadvantage. And yet he seemed frightened, golden eyes that still had a hint of green in them trained on her, his posture tense.  _ Hey, _ she thought, wishing he could hear her.  _ I’m just trying to keep you company, buddy. You don’t know where you’re going.  _ Still, when he seemed convinced she wasn’t going to come any closer and turned to go further into the woods, she let him get a good twenty feet in front of her before she started following again. 

As expected, Hux had absolutely no idea where he was headed. Rose had to laugh to herself when they ended up back at the parking lot.

Until she realized this had been his intention all along. She watched him slink between the motley assortment of rusting pickups and beat up SUVs to a shiny new Audi TT that looked completely out of place among its brethren. Rose sat and cocked her head, watching as he halted. Stood stock still, his muscles straining. It was then she realized he was trying to change back...and failing.

_ Good luck with that.  _ Mother moon was full and offered no quarter. He’d be stuck in his fur at least until she sank below the horizon, only the sun signaling relief. 

When he gave up, panting hard, his eyes shut against the pain of trying to force the change, Rose decided it was time to take her chances again.

She trotted up, ears pinned, tail low and wagging furiously.  _ Look, you idiot, _ she thought.  _ I’m a friend. I’m—  _

In an instant he closed the distance between them, his teeth snapping on empty air only because Rose shied away at the last second. 

_ Jesus.  _ Now she was pissed. As someone who liked to make sure everyone else was happy, she didn’t mind occupying the submissive role among her group of friends, but she was not in the mood to capitulate any more tonight. Instead she felt her own hackles rising, making her look more sizeable than she actually was. 

_Okay, ginger_ , she thought, even as he shivered and growled at her, turning a tight circle as she stalked around him. _Let’s dance._ She waited for him to lunge, slowing and trailing her hindquarters, knowing he would take the opening. And he did, predictably, snapping at her flank, which she quickly swung out of his reach, sinking her short but sharp teeth into the scruff at his exposed shoulder. 

Yipping in pain, he tried to shake her, but she held on tight, until he dropped the shoulder and dragged her down. She released him, scrambling away. Rose wasn’t concerned about the bite — she’d barely broken the skin, and he’d heal in minutes in this form. She was concerned, however, that he’d hold it against her and come at her even harder. 

So it surprised her when, still crying softly, he sank into a crouch, his ears flat against his head. And then, he did something she had never expected: the male rolled onto his back. For a moment all Rose could do was stare — no one had ever performed the submission roll at  _ her _ before. 

Red-blond belly in the air, he whined. 

She approached, wary in case it was a trick, snuffling against his shoulder. As she suspected, it was already healing, the punctures closed. She stood over him, let him crane his neck up and lick her chin.

_ Okay then. _ Rose stepped away, let him roll back onto his feet, and tried again to engage him in a positive way, her tail churning the air behind her as she wriggled around him.  _ C’mon, jackass, play with me!  _ She jumped up and put her forelegs across his back, mouthing at his ears, but he just stood there, looking miserable.

Thumping back to the ground, Rose shouldered against him gently.  _ Hey, c’mon. Did I hurt your manly pride?  _ In spite of her earlier resolve, she flopped onto her side, tongue lolling from her mouth, tipping her belly ever so slightly up towards him.  _ See? I’m not mean. _

He looked in the direction of the Audi — presumably it was his car — and whined again. 

_ You’re not comfortable in your fur at all, are you?  _ Rose wondered if he, like Rey, had been bitten and not born into this. Rose’s entire family had been wolves; she had grown up learning to love the change and everything it brought, but she knew that it was difficult for some to make the transition. 

Standing, she stretched out her legs, clawing at the dirt. Rose decided to try one last time, giving him another nudge and tossing her head towards the opposite side of the parking lot, where there was a well worn trail disappearing into the trees. 

She let out a little yodel of encouragement and started forward, her claws clicking across the patch of pavement. At the halfway point she turned back. Pricked her ears in his direction. Waited for his response.

Finally, after a moment of hesitation, Hux followed.

**

The trail took them up the ridge, and by the time they had hit the mile and three-quarter marker and the steepest part of the incline, both of them were panting heavily. When, a few minutes later, they stepped out onto the flat rock that jutted out over the cliffside, Rose was glad for the climb. The view from The Table was always worth it: the glittering silver lake below them, the dark woods stretching to the horizon, and the stars, specks of light in the inky indigo sky. 

She moved as close the edge as she dared and sank onto her haunches. The moon hung a few degrees to the east — it was early yet. She wondered how long it would take them to get back down, and if she had time for a quick nap.

In the distance she heard howls — Poe’s tenor, followed closely by Finn’s bass— and Rose raised her face to the sky and answered in her soprano. The joyful sound echoed off the lake, and a chorus rose up from all directions. 

When she had finished, the notes trailing off, Rose turned her head to find that Hux was staring at her. She shuffled to the side, hoping he would come to the edge and see what she could see. 

Creeping up beside her, Hux looked out over the cliff, and Rose thought she heard him sigh. Whether from contentment or irritation she wasn’t sure, although how he could be irritated with the view she couldn’t fathom. If he was this peevish in his human skin she wasn’t sure getting to know him would be worth it.

Still, Rose was grateful when, having watched her settle down with her head on her paws, he grunted and lay down beside her. Not quite close enough to touch, but it was a start.

**

“You bit me.”

Rose dragged herself into wakefulness, rubbing a decidedly human hand across her eyes. The glow of the sunrise was already creeping over the peaks in the distance — they had slept later than they should have. “Huh?” 

“Last night. You bit me.” Hux’s voice had an Irish lilt: unexpected, but it suited him, even when he was glowering at her. 

Sitting up, she took him in — pale skin, liberally freckled, the untidy shock of hair atop his head glinting red-gold in the sunlight. He was rubbing his neck where the puncture marks would have been, had there been any left. She leaned over into his space and he shied away.

“Well, let me look at it,” she muttered, and he conceded with a huff. Flinched when her fingers grazed his skin. “You’re fine. Already healed.”  _ Big baby.  _ But he wasn’t done.

“ _ Why _ , exactly, did you feel the need to bite me?”

“Because?” She laughed. “You nearly took a chunk out of my face a few minutes before that, if I recall.” 

“Yes, well, if you had just  _ backed off _ , the way I was clearly  _ warning _ you to—” His accent had started to sober up, sound more Imperial British, and Rose realized the mask was sliding back into place before her very eyes.

“I was trying to be friendly! I didn’t think you should be wandering around unfamiliar woods by yourself!”

“I _ clearly  _ wasn’t going to wander around the woods. I was going to—”

“Yeah,” she interjected, “What’s up with that? Why didn’t you want to run with us? Be part of the celebration?”

“None of your business.”

“Okay. F ine.” Rose moved into a crouch, brushing pine needles off her thighs, then laughed aloud when he ducked his head away, averting his eyes from her bare body. “Really? What did you do in your former pack — shift in dressing rooms?” Cracking her neck, she willed the change on.

“What—what are you doing?”

Rose spat out the answer before her mouth became too misshapen for human speech. “Quicker to go down this way. Four legs‘re better than two. C’mon.”

A moment of agony as her body realigned, and then sweet relief. She pressed her cold nose to his bony knee before starting down the path at a jog. 

A few heartbeats later, Hux crashed through the brush behind her in wolf form, startling several birds from their roosting spots. He quickly overtook her with his long legs. 

_ He hates being a wolf.  _ She could see the truth now, in the uncomfortable way he moved, in the panic on his face when he slipped on some scree and slid a little way down the path, four legs flailing as if he had no idea how to use them. Rose sprinted to his aid, as steady on her feet as she’d always been, and placed herself between him and the steep drop, leaned into his shoulder so he could get his footing. It was ridiculous to think all 110 lbs of her would be able to protect him should he take another wrong step, but Rose wasn’t about to let Hux plummet to his death just because he was a stubborn git. Any time their furred limbs brushed against each other he recoiled to the right, but he didn’t snap at her.  _ Progress?  _ Somehow she doubted it.

When they came into range of the parking lot, they could hear people milling about, voices carrying on the wind. Hux immediately buckled and shifted back, despite a warning growl from her. Easier to explain two wild animals than one wild animal and one naked man, but he was oblivious. So Rose padded along beside him, sniffing, wishing the wind would change directions. It was unlikely that these people were anyone except pack, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious. Sometimes there were human hikers, eager to get an early start, or fishermen, taking a crack at the lake in the dawn hours when the trout were more active.

A man appeared at the end of the path, pulling a tee shirt over his head, and Rose felt Hux’s long fingers curl into the fur at the base of her skull, could smell his fear. Instinct took over, and she placed her canine body between Hux and the stranger, prepared to defend the male if he was too inept to shift back and protect himself.

But then the stranger pushed his head through the neck hole, revealing a mop of wavy black hair that wasn’t unfamiliar after all: Poe. He chuckled, gesturing to the parking lot behind him.

“Christ, where have you two been? It’s getting late!” 

Hux released his hold on her and Rose bounded over to the other man, leaping and getting in a lick across his mouth before he could push her away.

“Hi Rosie! Still feeling frisky, are we? Your clothes are over by Rey’s car. And you—” He pointed at Hux. “Mr. hotshot accountant: I assume the Audi is yours.”

“You assume correctly.” Hux’s clipped speech had returned, the accent crashing back to formal as if he had never let it slip. 

“Your suit is on the trunk.” Poe reached down to ruffle the fur on Rose’s head. “You gonna stay like this all day, darling?” 

Rose, tongue lolling, did her best imitation of a shrug. When she turned back to direct her lupine smile at Hux, though, she found he had already skirted the lot to his silver car and was redressing. 

_ Goodbye then _ , she scoffed, and went to greet Rey. Prancing around the other woman, Rose watched her distracted glances keep returning to Ben Solo, who was leaning on his black 4Runner, talking with Luke and Leia. The man was a far cry from the gangly teenager she remembered; he was massive, all coiled muscle and dark, brooding looks even when speaking to his flesh and blood. And Rey, bless her, looked like she wanted to grab a spoon and eat him up, bite by bite.

_ Girl’s gonna get a stomachache. _ Ben looked over in their direction, and Rey broke into a grin. Of course, the leggy brunette had probably spent the evening frolicking with the black wolf, hunting and...whatever, while Rose had voluntarily saddled herself with the ginger asshole. Abruptly grouchy, Rose gave up trying to play puppy with her friend and shifted back, pulling on her jeans and blouse without bothering with underwear or her bra. She’d be going straight into the shower as soon as she got back to her apartment. 

It was then she heard Rey’s voice: “Hey there! Oh, did you want to speak to Rose?”

Rose, buttoning her fly, turned to find Hux had pulled his car up perpendicular to Rey’s. He had slicked his red hair back into submission, and still managed to look uptight as fuck even in a rumpled three-piece. 

“Ms. Tico,” he began — he must have asked someone for her name. Then he paused to glare at Rey, who fidgeted and slunk off to the left, where Kaydel and Jannah were chatting.

“I—” His hand stole to his neck where she had bitten him, fingertips caressing the skin there. Rose frowned, and he seemed to realize the unconscious gesture and dropped his hand. “It was...an interesting evening.”

“That’s one way to put it,” she replied. 

“One I’d care not to repeat.”

Rose put her hands on her hips. “I see.”  _ What a fucking jerk, what a—  _ She was about to stalk off to join Rey and the other women when he cleared his throat. 

“However,” Hux ran his tongue over one of his blunt human canines and Rose felt her stomach flip-flop. “If you’d ever like to spend some time with me in your human form...” He held a business card out. She hesitated, but curiosity got the better of her. Leaning across the hood of Rey’s car, she plucked the piece of paper from his grasp. 

_Armitage Hux, CPA_ was stamped in silver foil on the black cardstock.Along with a long string of acronyms, none of which she recognized, and a phone number. 

“...I wouldn’t be opposed,” he finished, meeting her eyes. His were beautiful, she decided, the grey-green of growing things. It was too bad those enchanting eyes were the gateway to such a prickly personality. 

_ What a sweet talker.  _ She’d had smoother pickup lines thrown her way in bars by frat boys drunk off their asses. And yet, the attraction she’d felt the night before was still there, his expectant gaze sending a thrill through her small frame.

_ You could say yes,  _ a small part of her brain wheedled. The daring part, the part that was more wolf than woman.

But in the end her very human insecurities overpowered the rest, and all she said was: “Don’t hold your breath.” 

The rapid return of the sneer to his face was so sudden it was if she had flipped a switch. “Suit yourself.” He peeled away, earning a disgruntled shout from Luke, who had to sidestep to avoid the sportscar. 

Still, Rose tucked the sleek card into her front pocket. Later, when she was alone, showered and clean and a little sad, her thoughts strayed to him. And how, when he was frightened, Hux had chosen to seek comfort from her...to bury his pale fingers, tenderly, in her fur.

  
  



	3. Ben - Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no post! Pardon the very lengthy delay — hope this chapter helps make up for it.

Tuesday afternoon, the twentieth of April, found the weather outside unseasonably warm, the trees and flowers in full bloom, and Ben Solo mid-nap.

Lying down and shutting his eyes more out of boredom than lack of sleep, he’d drifted off without difficulty as a balmy breeze blew the scents of spring in through the open window. 

Deep in dreaming, he twitched once, twice, his eyes moving rapidly beneath the lids. Like the majority of his waking thoughts of the past forty-eight hours, Ben’s dreams, too, were of  _ her _ .

_ He gallops through the sylvan landscape in his pelt, head up, ears forward...singing to the moon, to the night, to the one who runs before him. She is lithe and beautiful in the shifting light, her coat ruddy-silver, dappled grey-gold, all the colors at once, light shining from within her. And she is fleet, flying along as if she possesses winged heels, her paws barely touching the forest floor. Artemis, Diana...a goddess by any name, but the one she calls herself in this life is, simply, Rey. Beam of light, moon-maiden, queen of his heart. _

_ He could follow her forever, be her consort...drink deep of the mountain springs and eat well of the animals, sleep next to her in the neverending woodland, her dominion. But this idyllic existence of which even his dream-self dreams is not meant to be — she grows further and further away with every stride, outstripping him effortlessly. _

Suddenly the setting shifts, and Rey is gone. Instead... 

_ He stands on a hill, back in his human skin. Looks down and sees himself — an awkward pre-teen, standing in a field on the edge of the forest. A group of boys, his age-mates, ring around him. They have him backed up to the woods, and he is in the middle of shouting at them— _

_ “—you take it back!” _

_ One of the others — the leader, evident in his posture and the glint in his eye — only smirks.  _ The man dreaming doesn’t remember his tormenter’s name, or his face, really — it’s an amalgamation of many faces, like memory-laced nightmares always are. But he recalls, with vivid clarity, the feeling that accompanied listening to this little shit-stirrer insulting his family.  _ “My mom said your dad is a tail-chaser, and that you probably have twenty bastard siblings out there in other packs. My mom says your mom is the dumbest queen bitch we’ve ever had, if she doesn’t know that her own mate is running around on her. My mom—” _

_ Preteen Ben is breathing hard, his face red with fury. _

In the real world slumbering Ben flinched again, even as his younger self twitched and his dream self tensed with anticipation of what was to come. 

_ “TAKE IT BACK.” There is something different in his cracking voice then, something deeper. An otherworldly authority that had the other boys drawing back a step or two. “Take it back, asshole...or I’ll—” Ben twists his hands in the air, a gesture that would be empty for anyone else present. _

_ But Ben is seething, and Ben is  _ special.

_ CRACK — the sound of a bone snapping echoes across the meadow, and the howl of pain that follows draws in the other children, and finally...an adult. _

_ Uncle Luke rushes to comfort the other boy, gawking at Ben. “What have you done?” _

_ “Nothing! I didn’t—” But he knows that he  _ did _ break that boy’s arm. That there’s something deeply unnatural — wrong — about what he has just done. _

_ There is something deeply wrong with  _ him _.  _

_ He tears his clothes in his haste to shift, disappears on four feet instead of two, seeking solace in the woods that are his home, in solitude. _

_ Grown Ben watches young Ben flee, and suddenly Rey is beside him, her naked form obscured by the light coming from within her. She lays a comforting hand on his arm.  _

_ “You’re not alone,” she says. “Not anymore.”  _

_ Hope surges through him. “Neither are—” he begins. _

_ But he cannot finish, because Rey withdraws her touch, and, mimicking his younger self’s violent gesture, twists her hands at him. _

_ CRACK. But it’s not his arm she’s broken — it’s his neck. _

Ben jolted awake, limbs flailing, fighting against the knitted throw he managed to twist around his body in slumber. It took a few seconds to register where he was. 

_ Back in Alderaan. _

The adrenaline from the nightmare had him on edge, the change bristling along his spine, but he tried to slow his breathing, resist the urge. He wanted to shed his human form, to run through the trees like in his dream, but it was barely four o’clock. It would be far too risky to slip into his fur in the peak of pedestrian time in suburbia, when there were kids riding their bikes on the cul-de-sacs, people out jogging or walking their dogs, stopping to conduct mindless chit chat with the neighbors. The werewolves of Alderaan had a decades-long stranglehold on the town as far as government and business went, but they were still outnumbered by the human inhabitants one hundred to one.

He already felt claustrophobic, back here in the east, where the wide open spaces grew narrower by the year, as people from downstate built their getaways and summer homes and gaudy McMansions on the edges of the quaint little town, as it continued its slow crawl towards modernity with the addition of strip malls and big box stores. 

Silver Lake State Park, only a twenty minute drive north, provided some respite. The fact that much of the town’s east side butted up against a Federal Wilderness area also proved beneficial, considering the pack had snatched up the majority of that real estate back in the seventies. Blocks of split-levels and ranches, all possessing big backyards with fences that went right up to the tree line, were interspersed with condos, built for the more transient populations of the area. 

Hux had paid through the nose for one of those condos — and in cash, no less — recently vacated by a human doctor and her family. It was more space than an uptight loner like Hux would ever know what to do with, but it was  _ the best _ , so, of course, the ginger prick had to have it. Phasma had moved into another in the same complex. 

Which is why Ben had opted for a small apartment in an older building on the other side of town. He had brought his two peers along for the ride, sure, but they didn’t need to be living on top of one another.

His new accommodations, with the worn couch, chipped hand-me-down dinnerware and spare linens from Leia’s own closet, suited him fine. He wouldn’t be living there long, if his mother had anything to do with it. 

Nor was there any point in him going through the pretense of applying and interviewing for jobs. He was back in Alderaan for one reason and one reason only: to take up the mantle of pack leader, a role for which he had been born.

Nevermind that part of the impetus for breaking ties with his family and the Alderaan pack in the first place was avoiding that fate. Now, almost thirty and having become disillusioned with his life out west, it had seemed like the perfect time to return and mend those fences.

He’d come back three weeks ago with a clean slate. People remembered him fondly, adults and peers recalling an inquisitive, if somewhat aloof, child. They had hidden the troubles well, Leia and Han and Luke, when it had all begun. So he remained in the pack’s eyes an innocent, a young pup who had gone off to boarding school, somewhere the instructors could challenge his mind and shape his character, and had come back seventeen years later, wiser and tougher, but with nary a (visible) blemish.

If only they knew the truth.

Standing and shaking out his limbs, trying to shake out the sensations that lingered from the nightmare, Ben decided to pay his mother a visit.  _ She must have some grand plan.  _ While his current pack mates didn’t know him well enough to think badly of him, neither were they familiar enough with him to trust his leadership.  _ Yet.  _ He was sure his mother had meticulously plotted out the steps to place him in power.  _ Might as well get the ball rolling. And I can ask her about the stray while I’m there. _

Hunting and feeding alongside Rey, napping flank to flank afterward — it had been a pleasant evening, even if they’d spent it primarily in their pelts.

And the connection…the Force...

She was like him, and that thrilled him to his very marrow.

Yet unlike Ben, who had been flexing his ability since long before that day on the edge of the forest, Rey clearly had no inkling of the power she possessed.  _ And what power it was. _ The tiny spark she’d used to nudge the doe into his waiting jaws, all without realizing it, had been impressive. 

Thinking back now, he had no doubt that, with that kind of power, she could snap his neck as easily in real life as she had in his dream.

At the full moon gathering, he hadn’t dared do more than touch his consciousness to hers briefly while she was feeding. The flashes of memory and thought he’d gotten before she’d shaken him off had indicated starvation was never far from her mind, as she scarfed down the doe’s innards in a frenzy. 

So he’d spoken to her again, through the bond that shouldn’t have existed.

**_Yes, little wolf. Eat your fill. You’ll never go hungry again._ **

She’d panicked, then...and could he really blame her? If  _ he’d _ never met another wolf with the Force, how would he react?

_ Denial.  _ She’d been confused, but she had shrugged it off...had spent the rest of the night near him without a fuss. And she had watched him from a distance all that morning as the pack dispersed, with a bellyful of meat and a blatant curiosity that told him the attraction that stirred in his gut was mutual. 

Ben hadn’t wanted to seem desperate, so he hadn’t asked for her number, or asked around about her. But he knew his mother kept files on every pack member.

_ Another good reason to visit. Maybe I can do a little digging, find out where she’s from. _

Driving out to Leia’s barely required any brain power — after all this time, the route was comfortingly familiar. The farm house where he had grown up was one of the few on the east side of town that had existed before the pack had bought up the land. In fact, it had once been a dairy, and the dwelling and a couple acres were all that was left of the once rambling property of barns and corn fields and pasture land. The rest had been sacrificed to build the other houses, to give the pack a safe place to raise their pups.

As he mounted the steps to the front entrance, he paused to look at the peeling paint around the door frame.

_ I should get an early start later this week, get out here first thing in the morning and start patching this old place up.  _ Slap on a new coat of paint, replace the trim where it had started to rot. Whack the weeds, trim the grass, which looked like it hadn’t been cut in a month. 

He didn’t bother to knock. Since Breha had passed a few years before, Leia lived out here alone. 

The living room had changed little since his mom had redecorated it in the late 90s, with the shabby chic decor and the toile-upholstered sofa. From the wall surrounding the television — still an old CRT unit, he noted with a chuckle — were a plethora of family photos in mismatched frames. His younger self was there, and his mom...the grandparents, Uncle Luke and…

_ Dad.  _

Han Solo smiled cheekily from the center of a studio portrait, his left arm around his wife on one side, the right around his son on the other. Ben regarded his own twelve-year-old face — he’d been pissed off, frowning in spite of encouragement from the photographer. He couldn’t remember the specifics, but it had been taken mere days before he’d left with Luke. Probably only hours after Han and Leia had dropped the bomb that they’d be shipping him off with his uncle to a boys-only boarding school in Colorado, where Luke was slated to replace the Classics teacher for a year.

_ It’ll be good for you, son,  _ Han had said.  _ They’ll show you how to be a real wolf out there,  _ as if he himself couldn’t be bothered.  _ They’ll teach you discipline, camaraderie.  _ He didn’t seem to realize that the Jedi Academy was neither a public high school, with its football-playing, letterman jacket-wearing jocks, nor a military school, with its boot-polishing, superior-saluting jarhead wannabes.

_ It’s an art school, dear, _ Leia had tried to explain, but Han just waved it off, like he had so many other things. His own father couldn’t wait to be rid of him, it seemed.

Which is why, after the year had expired and Ben had elected to stay in Colorado, it had taken him by complete surprise that Han was bitterly upset that he didn’t want to return to Alderaan.

_ You can come home, kid. Did you think we were punishing you? Of course not, son. Come home. _

But it had been too little too late. Ben had already found his place in the Academy and a whole new set of friends. And more importantly, he’d found a group of wolves who weren’t afraid of him and his abilities. They’d thought his weirdness was  _ cool. _ Why would he want to go back?

If he had returned with Luke, if he had resumed his place in the Alderaan pack, maybe the event that he and Leia and Luke never spoke about wouldn't have happened.

_ Or, maybe it had been inevitable. _

He turned from the pictures and the painful memories, and made his way to the dining-room-turned-office that Leia had made her base of operations.

Ben smelled the other male before he saw him, and on instinct his hackles went up, until he realized just who he was scenting through the closed door. He pushed it open, right into a startled Hux, who almost lost his grip on the stack of boxes he was carrying. Ben had to tip them back up and into the other man’s arms before they dropped to the floor and made the office even more of a mess than it already was.

Even saving the boxes from tumbling wasn’t enough to spare him Hux’s sneer, though. 

“Christ, Solo, I know this is your mother’s house, but next time, give a shout or something,” Hux grumbled, his pale hands splayed across the brown of the cardboard. 

“If you used your damn nose like a normal wolf,” Ben rejoined, “Maybe you would have smelled me coming.” Hux tried to skirt around him, but he used his much larger body to block the passage, leading the red headed male to glare harder. “What are you doing here anyway?”

Hux gestured behind him. “Your mother, in her increasing senility, neglected to hand over all of the financial records a few weeks ago. And when I say records, I mean years of crumpled receipts and ledgers with entire months of transactions missing. Oh, and a dead mouse and a pile of its shit in one box. That was fun.”

“Sounds it. Don’t let me keep you.”

Hux’s voice was starting to strain with his increasing agitation. “I would, Solo, but you appear to be impeding my exit.”

“Are you still here, Armie?” Leia had appeared in the other doorway, the one that led to the kitchen, cup of tea in hand.

“I asked you not to call me that,” the redhead growled. 

Leia’s eyes winked with mischief as she pouted. “Oh dear, you’ll forgive an old woman in her senility, won’t you?” Her teasing had the desired effect — Hux colored deeply, and without another word, shoved past Ben and down the hall.

“He was the only accountant the Supremacy pack had to offer, huh?” Leia asked, settling into her well-worn desk chair.

“No, but he was the best.” It pained Ben to admit it, but it was the truth. If anyone could whip the pack’s finances into tip top shape, it was Hux.

“Figures. I had to listen to him lecture me for thirty minutes about the tenets of proper record keeping.  _ Thirty _ minutes, Ben.”

He snorted. “Sounds like you got off lightly. I once listened to him chastise a junior associate for the better part of an hour because the poor bastard had screwed up a coffee order. Not even actual, you know,  _ work _ . Just coffee.”

Leia rolled her eyes.

“Well I hope I’ve given him the last of it, then, and I can go back to dealing with him through email.” She settled into her chair. “What’s up kiddo? Didn’t expect to see you out here in the middle of the afternoon. You want a Coke? Shouldn’t be surprised that Armitage didn’t touch it, I suppose. Too pedestrian for him.” She slid the sweating bottle across the desk.

“Yeah, sure. Umm, I don’t know, just felt like stopping by.”

“Cool. You’re always welcome...you know that. And, since you’re here, take a look at this, will you? And let me know what you think.”

She handed him a piece of lined notebook paper, her beautiful penmanship running in a neat column down one side of it.

“What’s this?” He skimmed over the content. “A bunch of names?”  _ Female names. _

“Oh, it’s just a list of all the unmated females in the pack, ages twenty-three to thirty-three.”

Ben nearly spit the sip of soda he’d just taken across the paper-strewn desk. “Jesus, mother. I’ve been back for a grand total of...” He’d expected Leia to have a plan, but he hadn’t expected her to start steering him towards a mate quite this quickly.

“Three weeks? Yeah, and, what’s your point? You know I’m not getting any younger,” Leia said, exasperated. “And neither are you, kid. Don’t blame me for wanting to see you settled, before…” 

“Mom.  _ Mom. _ You’re what...sixty?”

Leia rolled her eyes. “Ouch. You _ know  _ how old I am.”

“Fifty….”

“Four.”

“Right. That’s another twenty years, at least, to see me  _ settled _ .” He had to laugh when Leia wrinkled her nose and pulled a face that was half disgust, half disbelief.

“Please don’t tell me you’re going to torture me and wait to get married when you’re _ fifty  _ and I’m... _ ancient _ .”

“I could,” he teased. “It’s not really up to you is it? What’s the big deal if I stay single forever? I mean, look at Luke.” Leia’s brother had extolled the virtues of bachelorhood at length, on more than one occasion. But Leia quickly put the kibosh on that train of thought. 

“No, it’s not up to me, and yeah, have you  _ met _ Luke? He’s a miserable middle-aged curmudgeon, no matter what he preaches. You really want to end up like him?”

He had a vision of his uncle, sitting alone in front of the tube with his microwave tv dinner, grousing at the anchors on PBS  _ Newshour _ . Ben didn’t even like PBS. “Not particularly.”

“That’s what i thought. I’m just worried that the pack won’t accept a leader who’s…”

Ben frowned and flexed one hand. Made a fist. He waited for her to say the word, but Leia didn’t give him the satisfaction. Finally, he spat it out himself. “Wild?” A chorus of unflattering adjectives he’d heard over the years he’d spent away bounced around his mind:  _ aloof, aggressive, feral _ .

But what he’d really wanted to say was,  _ a murderer.  _ And he could tell Leia understood. The loose familial link between them had been dormant for a long time, but he knew it was still there.

_ The pack has no idea what you did, _ his conscience hissed.  _ What will they do when they find out? _

But she forged on, refusing to acknowledge his unspoken signal. “I know you just got back, Ben. But there have been other wolves sniffing around for months. Pack members. Strays who can sense my hold over Alderaan is weakening. And as much as I admittedly enjoy calling the shots around here, the time is coming for me to step down...and for you—”

“—to step up?” Ben fiddled with the paperweight in front of him — picked it up, put it down again. Slid it a few inches to the left. It didn’t matter that he had been expecting this very speech. “I don’t know if I’m ready, Mom.”

“Do you think I was ready?” She laughed, but there was no mirth in it.

“You were born to be a leader. Grandma always said so.” He knew that she respected few people more than her late adoptive mother, Breha, but he also knew that trying to steer the conversation to her own accomplishments would not deter Leia for long.

“Thanks, kiddo, but I always thought your grandmother gave me more credit than I deserved.” When Ben opened his mouth to protest, she shook her head. “It’s been work.  _ A lot  _ of work. And I am  _ fucking _ ready to retire.” She put her hands on her hips. “So, you know, humor me and look at the damn list.”

“Fine.” He’d been gone for almost fifteen years, but most of the names he recognized. Usually wolves dispersed and found new packs in their early twenties, but it seemed the young dogs and bitches of Alderaan knew they had a good thing going where they were, because a lot had stayed put. “Jessica Pava...Kaydel Ko Connix.” He narrowed his eyes. “Mom, I thought Kaydel and I were cousins?”

Leia tutted. “Third cousins, twice-removed...or something arbitrary like that. The pack genealogy, like everything else, is a bit of a mess. But it’s not close enough of a connection that it would harm your offspring.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “So romantic.”

“I’m just—”

“I know, Mom.” He perused the rest of the list, came to the end and realized there had been an omission. “Why isn’t that new girl...Rey...on here?” He tried to keep his tone casual, but he could tell Leia had marked his feigned sangfroid immediately. 

His mother cocked her eyebrow. “So that’s what this is about.” As if his interest in Rey precluded his willingness to look at her list, versus his distaste at being served up a potential mate on a platter. “She’s a little on the young side, don’t you think?” 

Ben shrugged. She’d seemed mature enough to him, a grown bitch in body and in action. “How old  _ is _ she?”

“Twenty, I believe.” Leia proceeded to rifle through the precarious pile of manila folders stacked on the corner of her desk, succeeding in extricating the one she wanted only when Ben slammed his hand down on the pile to keep it from toppling. She flashed him an annoyed look, then flipped it open and scanned it, glanced over her shoulder at the calendar on the wall. “Yes. She just had a birthday a few weeks ago, in fact.” 

“And I’m not even thirty yet.”  _ Lucky me. _

“Your point?”

“I seem to recall the age gap between you and dad was in excess of ten years.”

“So you remember things like that when it suits you. Noted.” Leia pursed her lips. “Really Ben, the girl’s been through a lot. She spent most of her life as a stray or being cared for by humans who didn’t understand her lycan-related needs. She still doesn’t seem to understand a lot of what goes on in a pack...and a mate unsure of how to navigate pack dynamics isn’t the right one for a strong leader.” 

“So she needs a teacher. I’m more than willing to school her on how to be a good little bitch,” he said, smirking.  _ Among other things.  _ He wondered if Leia, whose actions always hinted that she bore a trace of that otherworldly power herself, could sense the Force in Rey. But he didn’t want to bring it up.  _ Better to keep it our little secret. _

She tossed the folder back on her desk and sighed. “I’ll bet you are. So help me goddess, if you break that poor girl’s heart—”

“Hey,” he said. “I was just kidding. You know I wouldn’t hurt her—”

_ Do I? _ Leia’s look seemed to say, and Ben felt it like an arrow straight to the heart.

She leaned forward with her elbow on the desk and rested her chin on her hand. “You want my advice?”

“Not particularly,” he replied, beginning to lose patience with the conversation. “But I have a feeling you’re going to give it to me anyway.”

“Rose.”

His bewilderment seemed to amuse her. “Rose...Tico?”

“Yes. She’s got everything you want in a queen bitch: smarts, tenacity, loyalty...”

He scanned his memory, recalled the petite female standing next to Rey at the pack gathering. She was cute, sure, but she’d been leering and howling at Hux of all people, to the acerbic redhead’s chagrin. “I—what about Paige?” he asked. Not that he was overly interested in either of the Tico sisters, but he had forgotten about the elder until this point. “She’s closer to my age, and...what?” Leia was shaking her head.

“Paige died about a year ago. Cervical cancer. They didn’t catch it early enough.”

Ben leaned back, ran his hand over his face. “Well shit. I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah. And that was about two years after their parents died in a car crash.”

“Umm, wow. I guess I owe her my condolences when I see her again.” But he couldn’t help but wonder, “And how is Rose’s trauma any less prohibitive than Rey’s?”

Leia gave him a dismissive wave. “Rose grew up in the pack. She’s used us all to help get through the worst stages of her grief, as it should be. We lean on each other, Ben.”

“That’s not how I remember it,” he snapped back before he could stop himself. Leia only stared at him, and after an uncomfortable ten seconds, he had to look down at his lap. He’d never been able to handle her scrutiny. “Look, I obviously didn’t come here to argue with you, or start a fight. I—”

Was that a tear in the corner of Leia’s eye? He couldn’t be sure. 

As usual, she deflected. “I know, honey. I’m glad you stopped by, but I need to get some work done. One day this all will be yours.” She opened her arms, indicating the impenetrable clutter of the office.

Pumping his fist in the air, he replied, “Fantastic. Can’t wait!” 

Leia didn’t take the snark as bait, though. Instead, she nodded. “Just...just promise me you’ll think about your options.”

“Sure, Mom.” He got up, stretching as best he could considering the drop ceiling, his hands colliding with the tiles. For a minute he thought about tossing the list back on her desk, but he pocketed it to study later. And, when Leia swiveled her chair around to fuss with something in the file cabinet behind her, he slipped Rey’s file under his arm, too. Her desk was in such a state of chaos, she’d never miss it.

But he couldn’t help but pause in the doorway and glance over his shoulder. Leia had turned back to the desk, pen poised in her hand.

“Mom?”

She looked up, her brow furrowed, as if she could feel his trepidation. “Yes Ben?”

“Are we ever going to talk about it?”

For a moment, as Leia regarded him in silence, he thought,  _ This is it. We’re going to finally have this conversation.  _

Once again, his mother disappointed him. “Talk about what, dear?” She wouldn’t look him in the eye.

Ben sighed. “Nothing, mom.”  _ Nothing at all. _

He bid her goodbye, and left the way he came.

**

When he pulled up to the garage where the file said Rey worked forty minutes later, it was already closed for the day. Snap’s wife Karé, who was power walking by, waved as he sat idling in his 4-runner, trying to decide whether to just drive around aimlessly, nose to the wind until he found her, or give up the chase for the day. The older female pointed him in the right direction.

“Oh, she and Rose teach classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights at Beautiful Beast,” she offered cheerily, citing the pack-owned fitness center. “I think the sessions get out at 6:30...you can probably catch her.”

So he’d driven clear across town...again...and parked in the municipal lot a few blocks down, loping to the fitness center at a leisurely pace.

And now Ben stood across the street from the sublimely monikered Beautiful Beast and regarded the double front windows showcasing the current classes taking place. This flagrant display of athleticism (or lack thereof, depending on the class in question) was a leftover from the ‘80s, when apparently people really enjoyed showing off, allowing passersby to ogle them as they jazzercised.

In the window on the left, there was Rose, leading an aerobics class of some sort, the thump of the bass coming through the glass at such a volume that he didn’t even need his enhanced lycan hearing to pick it up. She bobbed from side to side, smiling all the while at her students: a genuinely warm grin that showed she actually  _ cared. _ Ben observed her for a long moment, assessed her body and the way her breasts moved with each step. 

_ That sports bra is working hard _ . She was a tiny thing, but all woman, and he felt his cock twitch — somewhat unexpectedly — at the thought of her lying beneath him as he rutted into her, her legs in the air, her breasts bouncing with each thrust. He supposed, truth be told, that he would enjoy fucking her. He hardly knew her, but what did that matter? Proximity bred familiarity, and they would have plenty of time to get up close and personal once they were mated. 

Leia was right, of course. He could do  _ much _ worse than Rose Tico. She was kind; she was a hard worker. She was more than cute, on further inspection — she was pretty, with sleek raven hair and deep brown eyes. Somehow he could sense she would meet all of Leia’s expectations and more — be a devoted wife, and a wonderful mother to his children.

Were life simpler, and were he more inclined to heed his mother’s advice, he would barge into the studio now and announce his intentions.  _ Claim her. _ He had no doubt Rose would accept him without a lengthy courting period, having lost so much so recently. He’d be able to smell the loneliness on her; she’d be happy to be taken care of, and he’d be content with her. That would be the end of it.

Except there was the matter of the other window, and the other woman within it. 

To the right, Rey was teaching yoga to a group of older women. Mostly human, if his nose was correct, which it always was. She, too, wore a soft smile, and while she lacked Rose’s energy, she also clearly cared, taking her time to move through her students and adjust poses here and there, making sure everyone was working within their limits.

He’d spent five very disappointing minutes perusing Rey’s file upon leaving his mother’s house. It was clear she hadn’t been keen on divulging much about her past: most of her intake form was a block of blank spaces. No surname either. The one Leia’d put on the form, for tax purposes, was Selene, one of mother moon’s many names and one of several random ones available to strays when they were accepted into the pack, if they wanted to leave their pasts behind. 

He’d been counting on doing some digging on the internet, but without a real last name it would be almost impossible. It only occurred to him when he’d been halfway to Beautiful Beast, the file tucked in his glove box, that perhaps she didn’t  _ have _ a last name...at least not one she could remember. 

_ Take mine, _ he thought, smiling.  _ I don’t mind sharing. _ It was so easy to lose himself in the same scenarios he’d just envisioned starring Rose. Featuring Rey instead, they just seemed  _ right _ . Prophetic even, as if everything he imagined was meant to be.

_ Coursing through the woods in their pelts, singing their love song to mother moon. Fucking every which way, her delicious moans music to his ears. Sharing meals, sharing a bed, sharing a home.  _

He wasn’t sure how long he’d stood lost in his fantasies when he realized women had begun pouring out of the fitness studio’s doors. Some departed immediately, headed toward the parking lot. Others loitered in front of the big windows, chatting. Ben decided he’d better cross the street — otherwise they may glance in his direction and think he was lingering there for...well, the exact reasons he was.

An alto voice murmuring in his ear made him jump. “Admiring the view?” 

He turned to glower at the tall blonde woman who had appeared next to him. “Phasma, you sneaky bitch,” he growled, his smile toothy. “What are you doing here?”

She had sidled up to him from downwind, and now she leaned against the other side of the street lamp and shrugged.

“Just out for a stroll, if someone asks,” she laughed. “But between you and me, I’m  _ hunting _ .” She gave him a lascivious wink. “I thought I’d observe my prey in its natural habitat. Like that fine specimen right there.” She nodded her head towards a dark-skinned woman who was hovering around the Beautiful Beast entrance. She had freed her curly black hair from its confines and was shaking it out, a magnificent mane if ever he’d seen one.  _ Jannah _ , he thought, if he was remembering correctly. But Phasma wasn’t finished. “Not to mention  _ that  _ one.” This time she gestured towards Kaydel, who had just exited the building and bumped hips with Jannah playfully. “I haven’t quite made up my mind, yet.” 

Ben chuckled. “Well, uh, good luck. I’m not sure either of them are your normal quarry.” 

“Please,” she scoffed. “They’re both  _ at least _ bi, or I’ll bite out my own tongue.” She flared her nostrils and Ben couldn’t help but follow suit, but he didn’t know what secret scent he was searching for — they both just smelled like bitches to him. “And you, darling Benjamin? What delectable morsel do you have your sights set on this fine spring evening?”

Ben grunted, debating whether he should tell the truth, glancing to where Rey was in the process of stacking rolled up yoga mats in a corner, giving them an excellent view of her taut backside. Before he could tear his gaze away and offer Phasma a lame excuse, she followed his eyeline and smirked.

“Ah, I see. The  _ stray _ .” 

“You don’t know that she’s the object of my affection. I mean—” He turned his attention to the other window and licked his lips as Rose, through an act of divine providence, bent forward at that precise moment to tie her sneaker and provided a straight-on shot of her ample cleavage. “Rose isn’t exactly lacking.”

“Ha! Are you kidding me? I can read you like a book. Sure, Rose is attractive, but she’s not the one who’s got your blood singing. And  _ she _ wasn’t the one you sprang to defend in a play fight like her life depended on it.” Phasma laughed, tapping her fingers on the lamp post. “Really, Solo, I wasn’t going to permanently maim the bitch. I was  _ playing. _ And I think you knew that.”

Huffing, Ben almost countered with: _ I’ve seen you play, and you play rough _ . But he kept that to himself. “Sure, fair enough.” Then, after a beat of silence, he added: “But my mother seems to have her heart set on me courting Rose. She seems to think that she’s exactly the right kind of mate for me...all part of the master plan to set me up to replace her as pack leader.”

Phasma snorted, an undignified sound coming from someone who was usually so pulled together. “And has your mother accounted for one Armitage Hux in this plan of hers? Because I reckon you’d have a bit of a fight on your hands for the fair Miss Tico’s hand.”

Ben was unable to disguise his shock. “Really? That uptight asshole is really interested in her?” He’d seen them come back to the parking lot together, of course, but he’d also seen the way Hux had peeled off afterward, Rose glaring after the Audi with a quiet fury that looked out of place on her soft face. Not to mention the redhead had shown zero interest in any wolf, male or female, in the six years Ben had known him. 

“Oh, he’s got it baaaaad. Apparently all a girl has to do is take a bite out of his neck and then grind his ego into the dirt, and he’s going...going...gone.” She waved her hand to emphasize her point. “Beneath that frosty facade you  _ know _ he’s desperate to be loved.” When Ben raised his eyebrow, she nodded, solemn. “You forget I’ve been his friend a great deal longer than you have, Solo.” 

“Friend is a strong word…” he grimaced, making Phasma laugh. “I guess I’ll take your word for it.”

“Trust me on this. Oh,” she said, zeroing in on Jannah and Kaydel, who had begun to drift away. “Guess that’s my cue to move along. Have fun stalking...what was her name? Has something do with sunshine, or something equally saccharine?”

“Rey,” he said. “Her name is Rey.”

“Right,” Phasma drawled, winking again. “Good hunting, Solo.” And she slunk off to the left, parallel to the other females across the street. She didn’t pause, however, when they paused, but kept on walking. Maybe she’d ambush them later, or maybe she’d gleaned enough insight for one evening. 

Before he could change his mind, Ben jogged across the street and reached the entrance to the studio just as Rey was exiting. She did a double take when he appeared, shading her eyes against the setting sun as if she couldn’t quite believe his presence wasn’t a mirage. She returned his smile, but the grin didn’t come to her lips as easily as it had two days before.

He’d caught her off guard by showing up there, and her defenses were up.

“Hi Ben!” She managed to sound ebullient enough, but there was a note of suspicion in her voice, just below the surface. “Out for a walk?”

“No.” He had no reason to lie to her, and decided to throw caution to the wind. “Actually, I was looking for you.” He couldn’t help but scent again. She smelled deliciously of sweat, in spite of her efforts to cover her natural scent with a florid deodorant. 

“Oh…” She nodded, but didn’t continue, so Ben barreled on.

“I went by the garage, but it was closed. Karé...uh, Snap’s wife...told me that you taught here a few nights a week.”

“Yeah. Yoga. Rose is here, too.”

“I see,” he said, nodding towards the left hand window, where Rose was saying goodbye to people as they filed out the door. She saw him and Rey standing on the sidewalk and waggled her fingers at them. “Your instruction styles seem...quite different.”

“Yeah,” Rey laughed. “Well you have to be upbeat if you want to teach aerobics, and Rose has ‘upbeat’ nailed.” She adjusted the strap of her bag where it rested on her shoulder, and Ben had to stifle the urge to ask if he could carry it for her.

_ As independent as she is, she probably wouldn’t appreciate that. _

“So, umm, did you need something?” she asked, plainly unsure how to proceed.

“Nope.” He found himself shoving his hands in his pockets like a schoolboy. That’s how she made him feel...twitterpated, like a dumbstruck dog around a bitch in heat.  _ Keep your cool, Solo.  _ “It’s just...it’s a nice night, and I was just wondering if you wanted to get dinner at  Beitt Tönn . My treat.”

“Oh.” Her face fell. “That’s so sweet of you, Ben, but...Tuesdays I usually just go home and crash. I’m beat! I love teaching the class...but working eight plus hours at the garage, then doing this, too, makes for a long day.”

Ben nodded even through the disappointment.  _ Back off now, don’t push. _ “I completely understand. I’ll let you get back and relax, then.” He turned to leave.

Rey surprised him, though. She bit her lip, shifted her bag on her shoulder again. “Hey, I, uh...I live just a few blocks down. If you wouldn’t mind walking me home?”

“Sure.”  _ What the hell, _ he thought, and held out his hand for her bag. “Can I carry that for you, sweetheart?”

As he watched her blush very prettily, Ben decided he’d call her that as often as he could. And she let him take the gym bag, sling it over his own broad shoulders. 

Rose emerged to the building and Rey waved to her. It was a mixed gesture, both a  _ goodbye _ and a  _ go away _ , which had the other woman raising her eyebrows with comic exaggeration. Rose jogged off down the sidewalk in the opposite direction, catching up to Kaydel and Jannah with a fit of giggling that carried easily down the street. Kaydel then turned and, lifting her hand to her ear to mimic a phone, mouthed  _ ‘Call me,’ _ before the trio disappeared around the corner.

Ben watched the exchange with amusement. “You’ve only been here for three months? Could have fooled me.”

“Oh, everyone has been super nice. Rosie adopted me straight away. Hard to remember sometimes that she’s only a few years older than me, she’s such a mama wolf. She vouched for me at the garage. Dragged me to pack gatherings. Generally wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. 

“She’s certainly tenacious,” Ben agreed.  _ Welcoming, nurturing. Everything you’d want in a queen bitch _ , he reminded himself.

But it wasn’t Rose he felt compelled to walk beside on this warm spring night.

“Totally. If it wasn’t for her, I feel like I’d still be on the outskirts of the pack. Through no fault of Leia’s or anyone else’s,” she added in a rush. “Just because I’ve always been...alone.” There was a faraway look in her eye for a second, but then she blinked rapidly and it was gone. 

They walked a few yards in companionable silence before he offered a joke. “You’re part of the Alderaan pack now...good luck finding  _ any _ alone time.” She laughed and nodded like she knew exactly what he meant. Between parties and gatherings in their fur, they’d keep her busy.  _ And I might be able to occupy some of your time, too _ , he thought.  _ If you let me. _

“Well, this is me.” Her building was a squat old brick dwelling, kitty corner to the municipal lot. “Thanks for keeping me company, and carrying my bag.”

“It was my pleasure.”

She held out her hand, and it took him a second to realize she was asking, without words, for his phone.

“Should have given this to you Sunday morning,” she said, as she punched her number into his contacts. “So you don’t have to track me all over town.” She handed the phone back, but didn’t let her fingers linger against his.

He took the risk then, and used the Force to touch her mind, light as a feather.

He only got a partial burst of thoughts before he pulled away again.  _ — seems nice, don’t worry. Should you worry? Shouldn’t have given him your number like that. But he’s kind, he called you sweetheart, he carried your bag. He's built like a tank, but he won’t hurt you, no. Will he? But what about the voice in your head? Did he —  _

She hadn’t forgotten. But now wasn’t the time to delve into the mysteries of the Force, not when she was tired and still teetering on the edge of not trusting him.

He handed her the bag and took a step back.  _ Give her space. _ “I hope you have a restful night. And...I’m glad you found your way here, Rey.”  __

That smile again, the one that he hadn’t stopped thinking about since he’d caught her watching him from across the state park’s car lot. “Same, Ben. I’ll see you around?”

“Definitely.” 

They had so much to discuss, him and Rey. About the Force. About her past, and his past, and their future. But for now, Ben was content to leave her there on the sidewalk in the fading light. 

He’d rush home, reach the woods just as the sun sank fully below the horizon. And then he’d relish the change as it ripped him apart and reshaped him into the wolf, dreaming of the nights when he and Rey would weave through the trees side by side, no longer lonely or alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am hoping to post two more chapters of this by the end of February, before I switch back to my other WIPs. The 4th chapter is planned to be from Rey's POV, and the 5th will be from Rose's (and this one is already like 85% written). 
> 
> Thanks for sticking around! I promise there's much more lycanthropic goodness on the horizon!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought! Comments and kudos always appreciated!
> 
> Also I made a twitter for my fandom stuff - fics, art...thirst, haha. Catch me here [@eyanril](https://twitter.com/eyanril)


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